Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a battery cooling structure.
Discussion of the Background
In the case where a cooling surface of a battery module is supported by a hollow cooling plate in which a refrigerant flows, and the battery module is cooled by transferring heat generated in the battery module from the cooling surface to the cooling plate, a small gap is unavoidably formed between the cooling surface of the battery module, which is a rigid body, and the cooling plate, which also is a rigid body. The gap suppresses heat transference between the cooling surface and the cooling plate, thereby degrading the performance with which the battery module is cooled.
In order to solve the above-described problem, the following technology, which is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-34775, is known. That is, a heat transfer sheet, which is deformable and has a good heat transfer property, is sandwiched between a cooling surface of a battery module and a cooling plate, so that the gap between the cooling surface of the battery module and the cooling plate is eliminated by deformation of the heat transfer sheet. This facilitates heat transfer from the cooling surface to the cooling plate, thereby improving performance with which the battery module is cooled.